Automobile hood latch



Sept. 23, 1941. K. E. BRUBAKER AUTOMOBILE noon LATCH 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Dec. 2, 1940 r-zysrn az- L zwn/zn/ 5 Hews/ease.

Sept. 23, 1941- K. E. BRUBAKER AUTOMOBILE HOOD LATCH Filed Dec. 2, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 23, 1941.

K. EQBRUBAKER 2,256,465

AUTOMOBILE HOOD LATCH s Shee'ts-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 2, 1940 Patented Sept. 23,1941

AUTOMOBILE HOOD I 'ATCH Kenneth E. Brnbaker, Waukegan, 111., assignor to Houdaille-Hershey Corporation, a corporation of Michigan Application December 2, 1940, Serial No. 368,113

6 Claims.

This invention relates to automobile hood latching structures, particularly to the type designed for latching control of hoods of the socalled A1ligator" type, in which the hood cover is hinged at its rear end along a hinge line extending transversely of the vehicle. For such type of hood, main latching means is usually provided-operable from the interior of the automobile for unlatching the cover for partial opening, and additional or safety catch means are provided for limiting further opening movement of the cover until released for full opening of the cover. In some prior arrangements, it is necessary, after a partial opening of the cover, to reach in and manually release the safety catch meansto permit full opening of the cover.

The important object ,'of my invention is to provide a simple, economically manufactured latching and safety catch assembly in which the unlatching movement of the main latching mechanism and the release of the safety catch means can be accomplished from within the vehicle passenger compartment, so that it will be imnecessary to reach into the hood through a partial cover opening for releasing of the safety catch.

A further object is to provide improved structure and arrangement in which a main latch bolt and a safety catch hook are separate members with which control mechanism is associated and actuatable from within the vehicle passenger compartment, so that as a result of a first manipulation of the control means the main latch bolt will unlatch the hood cover and effect a partial raising thereof, and a second manipulation of the control means will effect setting of the safety catch member to an ineffective position so that the cover may befully raised, after partial opening thereof by the main latch bolt.

My invention involves various features of construction, arrangement and operation, all of which are embodied in the structure shown on the drawings, in which drawings Figure I is a side elevation of the main latch mechanism, the safety catch means and the controlling means, with the hood body and cover the safety catch member ,to ineffective position for full opening of the cover.

'I'he.hood body III has a supporting plate II I extending transversely thereof along its forward end, and the cover l2 has a keeper plate l3 extending transversely thereof along its forward end. The latching assembly comprises a supporting base I4 having laterally deflected portions I5 forming feet whereby the supporting base may be secured as by riveting or welding against the under side of the supporting plate II adjacent to a passageway I6 through the plate II. The keeper plate I3 has the passageways I! and I8 therethrough in register with the passage- Way I6.

The supporting base I4 has the upward extension I 9 that projects through the passageway I6 for projection through the passageway I! when the cover is closed, the projection affording a fulcrum stud 20 for the latch bolt 2|. At its outer end the latch bolt has the latching arm 22 engaging against the top of the keeper plate I3 when the latch bolt is in its latching position to hold the cover closed, as shown on Figure 1. The bolt has also thelifting arm 23 which, upon movement of the latch bolt to unlatching .position, engages against the under side of the keeper plate I3 to partially raise the cover, as shown on Figures 2 and 3.

The latch bolt 2I is on the front side of the supporting base I4 and at its inner end receives a stud or pin 24 secured to and extending from the upper end of a link 25 disposed along the rear side of the base I4; the stud 24 projecting through an arcuate slot 26 in the base I4 which is concentric with the fulcrum stud 20. At its lower end the link 25 has a guide'stud or pin 21 extending through a guide slot 28 in the base I4, and a spring 29 anchored on the base I4 engages at its end against the stud 21 to exert upward longitudinal pressure against-the link 25, which pressure is communicated by the stud 24 to the latch bolt 2|. As the latch bolt is rocked toward latching or unlatching position, the spring pressure exerted against the stud 24 will pass to either'side of a center line of pressure extending through the fulcrum stud 20, and the lower stud 21 on the link 25, so that' movement of the latch bolt toward latching or unlatching position will firstbe resisted by the spring pressure and then, after the center line of pressure is passed, the spring pressure will quickly move the latch bolt' to its final latching or unlatching .position.

Depending from the stud 24 in front of the 32 on a rack 33' which may be a portion of the supporting base l4 and deflected therefrom. The teeth 32 are in an arcuate row concentric with the guide slot 23, and when the latch bolt is in its latching position, the tooth 3| will engage vehicle passenger compartment, the knob being at the outer end of a bar 31 slidable in a-sleeve 33 which may be secured on the instrument panel 33. A wire 43 extends from the bar 31 to the end of the arm 33 of the member 33. Re'ferringto Figure 1, when th knob 33 is pulled out, the

" member 30 will be swung in counterclockwise direction to first disengage its, tooth 3| from the rack- 33 to unlock the latch bolt for unlatching movement, and then the member 33 will come into engagement with an abutment extension 4| on the latch bolt for swing of the latch bolt toward unlatching position, and when the stud 24 crosses the center line of spring pressure, the spring pressure will tend to complete such movement of the bolt to unlatching position. However, the latch bolt will be prevented from reaching its full unlatching position by a stop 42 on the base l4 which is in the path of the tooth 3| on the member-33 when this member is pulled by the knob 33, and so long as the pull is maintained, the tooth 3| will remain in position against the stop 42, as shown by the full lines on Figure 2. Upon release of the knob 33, the spring 34 will swing the member 33 downwardly away from the stop 42 and then the pressure of the spring 23 against the latch bolt will complete swing of the latch bolt to its full unlatching position, as shown by the dotted lines on Figure 2, the tooth 3| of the member 3llthen abutting the inner end of the rack plate: 33. The stop 42 may be formed by a portion deflected from the base l4, the stop, as shown, comprising a horizontal portion and a depending vertical portion.

The safety catch means comprises a safety catch arm 43 fulcrummedat its lower end on a stud 44 supported by the base l4 and extending upwardly through the passageway l3 in the plate II and normally through the passageway l8 in the keeper plate l3 for cooperation of its hooked end 45 with the keeper lip 43 deflected from the keeper plate I3. A compression spring 41 interposed between the base and the lower end 01' the arm 43 tend to hold this arm in forward position against the vertical portion of the stop 42, as clearly shown on Figures 1 and 2. In this position of the arm 43, its hook end 45 will be I j annexes" latch bolt 2| is a combined detent and actua member 33 which has a portion deflected to form a detent tooth 3|- cooperable .with detent teeth enga ement ban the-safetyeatch ar a. n

pull onthe knob 33 is now released to permit the spring 34to swing the member 33 away from the stopand' to permitthe latch bolt to be swung to its full latching position, as shown by dotted lines on Figure 2. a-second'pull on the'knob will swing the member 30 for travel of its tooth 3| against the arm 43 without interference by the stop 42, the arm being then swung inwar ly until the tooth 3| has reached a point along the arm above a detent shoulder 48 on the arm. the

- spring 41 then swinging the'arm a short distance shown, a control knob 33 is provided within the forwardly to bring the shoulder 48 below the tooth 3| to detain or hold the member 33 in this upper position against the pressure of the spring 34; Uponsuch inward swing of the arm 43 by the member 30, the'arm hook end 43 ismoved out of the path of the keeper lip 43, as shown on Figure 3, and the cover has now been released so that it may be swung to its full open position. The lower edge 45' of the hook end 43 is inclined to form a cam surface disposed in the path of the keeper lip 43 after the arm 43 has been swung inwardly by the member 33, and when the cover is raised after release thereof from the catch hook, the keeper tongu 43 will engage with this cam surface and the arm 43 will be swung sumcientlyinwardly to withdraw its shoulder 43 from below the tooth 3| so that the spring 34 may restore the member 33- with its toothagainst the inner end of the rack 33, as shown by the dotted lines on Figure 2. Upon release of the arm 43 from the tooth 3| it will swing back to its normal position against the stop 42. Now, when the open cover is swung downwardly for closure thereof, the keeper tongue 43 will engage with the upper inclined or cam edge 43" of the hook end 43 and the arm 43 will be swung out of the way and the keeper plate l3 will then engage with the lifting arm 23'of the latch bolt and the latch bolt will be swung toward its latching position, which movement is quickly completed by the cross center spring pressure and the cover will be latched closed as shown on Figure l. The arrangement may be such that the stud 24 will not fully reach the outer end of the guide slot 23 after closure of the cover, so that the pressure from the spring 23 will continue to be exerted against the latch bolt so that the bolt will take up any slack or looseness of the cover and hold it securely closed against rattling. After passage of the keeper lip 43 past the hook end of the arm 43, this arm will be swung back by the spring 41 into its normal position against the stop 42.

I thus provide simple and efdcient latching and safety catch assembly in which the driver within the vehicle has full control of the unlatching and partial raising of the cover, and releasing of the safety catch means, it being noted that the safety catch member. being positioned inwardly behind the latch bolt, renders it impractical to eflectrelease of the safety catch by the insertion of the hand through the partial cover opening. s

I have shown a practical and efilcient embodiment of the features of my invention and I do not desire to be limited to the exact construction, arrangement and operation shown and de-- scribed, since changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. I

I claim as follows:

1. A latching assembly for an automobile hood comprising keeper structure on the hood cover, a latch bolt on the hood body normally in position to latch the cover closed and adapted when moved to unlatching position to effect a partial opening of said cover, an actuating member connected with said latch bolt, control means at a point remote from said hood connected with said actuating member, a first manipulation of said control means effecting movement of said latch bolt to unlatch the cover and efiect a partial opening thereof, a safety catch member normally in position to prevent further opening of the cover after partial opening thereof by the latch bolt, and. means whereby upon a second manipulation of said control means said actuat= ing member will engage with and set said safety catch member to ineffective position independently of any movement of said latch bolt so that the cover may be fully opened.

2. A latching assembly for an automobile hood comprising keeper structure on the hood cover, a rockable latch bolt on the hood body adapted when moved to latching position to hold the cover closed and when moved to unlatching position to unlatch the cover and effect a partial opening thereof, an actuating member pivoted on said latch bolt, control means at a point remote from said hood connected with said actuating member, a first manipulation of said control means causing swing of said actuating member to rock said latch bolt to its unlatching position, a safety catch member normally so positioned relative to said keeper structure to prevent further opening movement of the cover after a partial opening thereof by the latch bolt, and means whereby upon a second manipulation of said control means said actuating member will engage with and move said safety catch member to an ineffective position which will permit further opening of the cover, means for interlocking said actuating member and said safety catch member after setting of said safety catch member to its ineffective position, and means whereby upon further movement of said cover said safety catch member will be engaged thereby and moved to release such interlocking engagement for return of said safety catch member to its normal position after such further opening of the cover.

3. A latching assembly for an automobile hood ting of said safety catch member to ineffective position, and means whereby further opening of said cover will move said safety catch member to release said interlock, whereby said safety catch member may return to its normal position after further opening movement of the cover.

4. A latching assembly for an automobile hood comprising keeper structure on the hood cover, a latch bolt on the hood body rockable' to latchingor unlatching position and adapted when moved to unlatching position to effect a partial raising of said cover, crossover spring pressure means engaging with said latch bolt to effect quick rocking thereof to its latching or unlatching position after an initial movement of the bolt toward such position, a detent member pivoted on said bolt and a detent abutment engageable by said detent member when said latch bolt is moved to latching position whereby to lock said bolt in its latching position, control means outside of said hood connected with said means, means efiective upon release of said control means for swinging said detent member away from said stop, a safety catch member, spring means normally yieldably holding said safety catch member relative to said keeper structure to prevent further, opening of said comprising keeper structure on the hood cover, a

rockable latch bolt on the hood body adapted normally to latch the cover closed and adapted to be rocked to unlatch the cover and effect a partial opening thereof, a detent member pivoted to said latch bolt, a detent abutment engageable by said detent member when said latch bolt is moved to latching position whereby said bolt'will be locked against unlatching movement, control means at a point remote from said hood and connected with said detent member, means whereby upon a first manipulation of said control means said detent member will be first released from said detent abutment for unlocking of the latch bolt and said detent member will then engage with said latch bolt to effect rocking thereof to its unlatching position, a safety catch member normally in position relative to said keeper structure to prevent further opening of the cover after partial opening thereof by said latch bolt, means whereby a second manipulation of said control means will swing said detent member into engagement with said safety catch member to set said safety catch member to an ineffective position for permitting further opening movement of the cover after a partial opening thereof, means interlocking said detent mem- V ber and said safety catch member after such setcatch member to ineffective position, and means whereby further opening of said cover after partial opening thereof will move said safety catch member to release said interlock whereby said safety catch member may be restored to its normal effective position after such further open ing of said cover.

5. A latching assembly for an automobile hood comprising keeper structure on the hood cover, a latch'bolt on the hood body normally in latching position to hold the cover closed and adapted when rocked to unlatching position to effect a partial opening of the cover, cross over spring pressure means engaging with said latch bolt to effect quick movement thereof to its latching or unlatching position after an initial movement of the bolt toward such position, an, actuating member pivoted on said latch bolt, control means outside of said hood connected with said actuating member, a pull on said control means when said bolt is in latching position causing swing of said actuating member into engagement with said bolt to swing said bolt toward unlatching position and for operation of said spring pressure means to continue such rocking of the latch bolt, a stop in the path of said actuating member preventing full movement of said latch bolt to unlatching position bysaid spring pressure means, a spring effective upon release of said control eans after pull thereof toswing said actua member away from said step so as to permit said spring pressure means to complete the rocking of said latch bolt to its unlatching position,'a safety catch member, spring means normally holding said safety catch member relative to said keeper structure to prevent further opening of said cover after partial opening thereof by said latch bolt, said actuating memher being adapted upon a second pull on said control means to be swung into engagement with said safety catch member for setting thereof to ineffective position so that said cover may then be further opened, means interlocking said actuatingmember and said safety catch member after such setting of said safety catch member, and means effective upon further opening of the cover for causing said cover to move said safety catch member to release said interlock and to permit said safety catch member to be returned to its normal position after such further opening of the cover.

assesses 8. A latching assembly for an automobile hood comprising keeper structure on the hood cover.

' a latch bolt on the hood body normally in posilatch bolt to unlatch said cover, and means whereby upon a second manipulation of said control means said actuating member will engage with and set said safety catch member to ineffective position independentlyof movement of said main latch bolt so that the cover may be fully opened.

KENNETH E. BRUBAKER. 

